Perhaps it should have been called “The World’s Most Famous Rodeo Arena” for the weekend.
Professional Bull Riding took over New York City from Jan. 7-9 at Madison Square Garden where spurred boots replaced the usual pounding of sneakers or skates on the venue’s surface.
This was PBR’s 16th consecutive year holding its Unleash the Beast event where some of the most underrated world-class athletes and majestic bulls with attitude captivated the MSG crowd that was close to sold-out capacity.
The top competitors attempted to ride the massive bulls for what is labeled “the most dangerous eight seconds in sports” to the beat of pyrotechnics and a raucous crowd while their runs were adjudicated on a 100-point scale. The highest scores averaged close to 90.
Top riders Bob Mitchell and Joao Ricardo Vieira scored monstrous scores of 90 during the buck-off stages on the evening. Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, Mason Taylor and Koltin Hevalow rounded out the top five, tying for third. Taylor rode Sky’s The Limit, while Hevalow outlasted Smooth Over It, both scored 88.25 points according to official PBR scorekeepers.
Competitors as young as 18 and as old as 47 defined gravity and hung on for dear life as the bulls gained the upper huff and flung their counterparts through the air as they lost grip on their rope and saddles sending them into the dirt.
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